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"Thresh!" Rue gasped.
Prim stood still, trying to process what this meant. Something inside her felt joy—hope, even. But When she broke it all down, that still meant that people…friends…would die. "Is Peeta still alive?"
"Yes he is." Peeta emerged from the cave with a limp in his leg and half his pants burned away. The skin beneath glowed raw pink. He pulled Prim into a tight, trembling hug. "You're okay. I thought for sure when that cannon went off that it'd be you."
"I thought it was you," she mumbled into his jacket.
"Can we go after Thresh?" Rue looked up at Peeta.
He let out a long sigh and held Prim at arm's length. "I see you've brought us back another family member." He jerked his head toward Vixenette. "What happened to Marvel?"
"He left and rejoined the Careers." The Careers! Prim's fingers tightened against Peeta's wrists. " Cato and Clove are coming for you. We have to go!" Her eyes drifted down toward his leg.
"It's not that bad. I got a parachute from Haymitch with burn cream. You should have seen it when I first got hit. Rue practically fainted."
Rue hit him playfully on the arm. "Did not!"
They seemed much more like a brother and sister than the last time they were all together. It must have been because they survived together the past several days.
"So, District Five…" Peeta narrowed his gaze at Vixenette.
Vixenette's eyes darted around the forest, avoiding Peeta's gaze.
"Prim trusts everyone, but I won't trust you until you prove yourself."
"She saved my life," Prim piped up.
"And you saved Marvel's life, but he never trusted us and never became trustworthy." Peeta folded his arms and leaned against the boulder, relieving the pressure off his leg.
Prim wanted to tell him how Marvel spared her life, but she didn't think he'd see it the same way since Marvel also held a dagger to her throat.
Peeta jerked his head toward the boulder. "Come on, this turns into a cave down below. We've got fish." He acted different, more accepting of the fact that he'd be part of a team now. Not so focused on juggling who to trust and who to kill.
But what did that mean for them? How would this all end?
They clambered down into the cave. It was huge—almost as big as the living room of Prim's house in Twelve. Lines of fish hung against the wall, already cooked from some past fire. Vixenette hovered back in the shadow against the cave wall, not joining in, but Prim went straight to the fish and tossed one to Vixenette. She caught it without a word and started eating.
"I have to find Thresh." Rue handed the dagger back to Peeta.
Prim recalled what Cato and Clove had said. "He's by the lake. In that portion of ground that disappeared on the other side of the Cornucopia." She licked the fish oil off her fingers and then picked out another chunk of meat. "We need to go soon. Cato and Clove are coming!"
"I think they will have turned around after the announcement." Peeta pulled a small silver tin from his pocket and unscrewed the cap. "If they know that Thresh is there, they'll use this as an opportunity to catch him or Rue."
"But if they catch him, we have to save him!" Rue's voice grew more frantic. She scuffed her feet back and forth as though barely able to keep herself in the cave.
Peeta's movements remained smooth and calm as he spread a gelatinous paste on his leg wound. "Then what, Rue? If we help you get together with Thresh, will you agree to part ways?"
"Part ways?" Prim stopped with her hand halfway to her mouth. She'd just found them!
"The Capitol's giving us a chance, Prim." Peeta wiped the excess paste into the can and rescrewed the lid. "The viewers don't want to watch all of us die just because we've decided to join a team and not kill anyone. The Capitol is relenting a little – allowing two of us to win instead of just one. We can't keep taking advantage of the rules."
It felt odd talking so openly about parting ways and killing tributes, but Rue didn't say anything. She just stood by the door of the cave, ready to head out at a moment's notice. Vixenette just ate her fish. What would happen to her? She didn't have her fellow tribute left. No matter what, she would have to win alone.
But Prim wouldn't let her die alone.
"I think we should help Rue connect with Thresh. Then we can see what he wants to do." The idea of traveling again increased the ache in Prim's feet. "When do you think we should go?"
"Now!" Rue took another step toward the opening. "We need to get there before Cato and Clove. They might go try to kill him."
"Or try to find us." Peeta stood. "But I'll take you where you want to go." Resigned. He'd become resigned. It was a different type of Peeta. Not a survivor, but a…big brother. He turned toward Vixenette. "Are you coming?"
She had no reason to go with. Her loyalty didn't run deep to anyone, not even Prim. She looked up from her fish. "I will go for another reason." She took a bite. Chewed. Everyone waited on her. "We blow up their food."
Peeta's brow furrowed. "How would we blow it up?"
"District 3. Explosives. Dug up the mines and reactivated them. I know the path through."
Prim wasn't getting the full picture, but Peeta's face smoothed out and his eyes turned distant as though he could visualize it. "Of course they did. They're hoarders and set a trap." He focused on Vixenette again. "You really know your way through them?"
"Every mine. I know where every mine is." She picked at her fish again. "I stole their food."
She was much more foxy and sneaky than Prim had imagined. She'd been snatching food from the Careers and they never even knew it! If they blew up their food and belongings, then the Careers would have to start fending for themselves.
"So that's why you joined us." Prim smiled. "Because we can feed you without you having to sneak into the Career camp."
"And you can distract the Careers." Vixenette spoke more boldly, as though laying everything out on the table. "We go get her guy,"—she nodded her head toward Rue—"and while you distract the four Careers, I blow up the food."
"F-Four Careers?" Prim had only been imagining Cato and Clove, but Foxface kept track better than her. Marvel. Glimmer.
Prim couldn't fight Marvel. But maybe that was a good thing—maybe he wouldn't fight her either.
"Well, let's go then." Peeta picked up the spear he'd stolen from Marvel. "Let's try to get to Thresh before the Careers do and then we can avoid this whole "distract them" thing altogether."
They left the cave, Prim's feet screaming at her to stop, but she walked on. For some reason, she had a feeling this whole plan would end badly.
For some reason, she was certain at least one of her family members would die.
.
.
To be continued...
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How would you live if you knew the day you'd die? Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government's crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall - her people's death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her clock is running out.